William D. Block Memorial Law Library

About the Library

The goal of the William D. Block Memorial Law Library is to serve the public. This goal is accomplished by providing the judges, attorneys, and citizens of an open and efficient system of access to the library’s resources. The law library collection includes 20,000 books, access to pre-printed forms from the Circuit Clerk’s office, and computers on which patrons can access specialized legal research databases and free sources of online legal information. The law library’s print collection can be searched through the online catalog.

Staff

The library is staffed by a law librarian, a full-time senior clerk and a full-time administrative assistant. There are no attorneys on staff at the law library. In order to accommodate the needs of the judiciary and the citizens of Lake County, the library is open from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Library Visitors

About 70% of library visitors are self-represented litigants; the other 30% are practicing attorneys and their paralegals. The law library works closely with public libraries throughout the state to help promote the library as a resource to their staff, whose users can be directed to the William D. Block Memorial Law Library when legal matters and questions arise.

The librarian and staff work closely with the Judges and the Circuit Clerk’s Office to coordinate the court forms for self-represented litigants.

Library Partnerships

The law librarian is a member of several library organizations, including the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), and the Illinois Library Association (ILA). Continued involvement with these professional associations allows the library to stay up-to-date on new services and resources for legal professionals and self-represented litigants.